Lazy Mom Holiday Baking: Desserts That Look Fancy But Take Very Little Effort

Princess Pinky Girl’s blog is the first place I go when I need a super easy baking recipe that will satisfy my cravings with minimal effort. These candy cane brownies use a box mix base for maximum ease, and you and the kids will have fun smashing candy canes to use for the topping.

Laughing Spatula’s easy cranberry bars are perfect to take to a holiday gathering — there’s no frosting or sprinkles to get ruined in transit. They take about 15 minutes to mix and prep, which is just enough time to satisfy that feeling that you wanted to bake something, and then you’re outta there while they finish up in the oven.

Tell me Simply LaKita’s Russian tea cakes don’t look like little edible snowballs.

It’s all in the name. Averie Cooks’ Christmas crack recipe is perfect for anyone who loves a salty-sweet treat. It’s got a saltine cracker crust topped with a butter and brown sugar mixture, melted chocolate, and plenty of fun sprinkles.

If you want your house to smell absolutely divine, you need only make these candied nuts from Damn Delicious. You literally just whisk together the ingredients, coat the pecans, and pop them in the oven for 30 minutes. They would be so tasty to snack on while watching movies, and cute to add to gift baskets or teacher gifts.

If you haven’t made cake mix cookies, you have to try them. They’re soft, moist, fluffy, and yes, so incredibly easy to make. Princess Pinky Girl will walk you through it all with these Christmas cake mix cookies, which you can top with any festive sprinkles or candies you like.

Making gingerbread can be sort of an undertaking, and personally, I’m never that excited about a hard, crunchy cookie. Laughing Spatula’s soft ginger cookies are the tender version that still delivers the ginger and molasses flavors you want so much this time of year. And yes, they’re super simple to make.

Poke cakes are so easy and fun to make, and Averie Cooks’ snickerdoodle poke cake is no exception. It makes a boxed cake mix 10 times better, and the homemade whipped frosting is perfectly light and sweet. If you’re not afraid of food coloring, you have to try her Christmas red velvet poke cake.

Christmas is fudge season, no matter what flavor you choose. Something about butterscotch feels nostalgic for me and just goes well with the season. Family Fresh Meals’ fudge recipe is super easy for fudge-making first-timers.

This rustic cranberry almond cake from Budget Bytes would be so good with a hot cup of tea by the fireplace. All it takes is your usual measuring and mixing — no fancy techniques or decorating steps here.

Technically this recipe doesn’t involve an oven, but you’ll love it just the same. Damn Delicious’ recipe will walk you through how to make homemade toffee on the stovetop (it’s not as hard as you think). when it’s ready, you just pour it over graham crackers to make a delicious bottom crust, and once it sets, you’re ready to slice and enjoy.

Easy, classic, colorful — Princess Pinky Girl’s simple sugar cookie recipe will definitely do the trick for tired moms. They’ll be ready in 25 minutes start to finish, and they’re a great way to use up a bunch of different holiday sprinkles from other recipes too.